The state banned public schools in six of New Mexico’s 33 counties from starting in-person categories after Labor Day because counties did not meet the criteria set through fitness officers for the spread of COVID-19.
Five of those counties, Eddy, Lea, Chaves, Roosevelt, and Quay, were located in the southeastern part of the state, along New Mexico’s eastern border with Texas; 6, Hidalgo County, on Arizona’s southwestern border.
A map published across the state Thursday indexed the six counties classified as “red,” either with average instances of 8 or more consistent with 100,000 inhabitants and a check positivity rate of 5% or more.
Luna and Curry counties were “yellow,” with average instances of 8 or more consistent with 100,000 but a check positivity of less than five consistent with percent.
New Mexico’s other five counties were classified as “green” because they had average instances of less than 8 consistent with 100,000 and positivity tests less than five consistent with percent.
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The state of New Mexico ordered the closure of all public school buildings in March when the pandemic first hit the state, and that educators move on to online courses for the remainder of the 2019 school year.
The 2020 school year was due to start online only under the mandate of the Department of Public Education, but it still had to move to a hybrid style that combined online and in-person courses during the year.
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Carlsbad Municipal Schools began operating an online course style on August 24 and planned to transfer it to a hybrid style on September 8.
But with the recently amended public aptitude order, Superintendent Gerry Washburn said the district will most likely have to engage in long-term use of online courses.
“I’m disappointed that we’ve moved away from the state that moved in combination as one or one of the parts to move forward while others remain motionless,” he said. “I can’t do anything about it personally. They’ve been pretty transparent about the rules. All we can do is adjust our plans.
Washburn argued that the infection rate in Eddy County, expressed as a percentage of the workload of the county’s general population, is similar to that of Bernalillo County, which is legal for reopening in-person teaching.
As of Monday, Eddy County had 492 cases of COVID-19, or 0. 84% of its population of 58460 in 2019, according to the most recent US census data. But it’s not the first time
Bernalillo had 5,809 instances on Monday, or approximately 0. 85% of its total population of 679121 in 2019, according to the census.
“According to the knowledge I see, our young people return to school,” Washburn said. “Do we have a higher rate than I’d like to see?Do we want to do a bigger task like a net dressed in a mask?And social distance? But at the end of the day, our young people will have to (be) back at school.
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As the year progresses, Washburn said Carlsbad will have to pursue a long-term model.
He said the logistics of returning academics to elegance may take weeks after the reinstallation was announced.
Recommendations for the long-term plan were to go to the Carlsbad Board of Education at its Sept. 15 meeting, Washburn said.
“You can’t plan schooling one week at a time,” Washburn said. “It’s a great shipment and it doesn’t convert easily. We want to see how long we’ll be online. We have to make a commitment. “
He said he hoped that from kindergarten through sixth grade he would likely stay online until October, and that grades from seventh to twelfth would remain online until the end of the semester.
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Online education limits social interactions, said Washburn, who are in education.
“Education isn’t just about gaining knowledge,” he said. “We are social creatures. We read the frame language. Our young people would probably be better able to communicate online, but in the end they want non-public contact. Relationships cannot be created” without private contact. “
New Mexico Secretary of Public Education Ryan Stewart said students’ fitness is the state’s most sensible priority, and that face-to-face schooling can only go backwards when all protection protocols are followed.
He said New Mexico’s districts had purchased more than 3. 5 million protective masks and that the state planned to distribute 700,000 in the next two weeks.
“Our task has been to coordinate largely with school districts and local leaders to have strict and effective protocols to save you positive cases and so that we can respond temporarily to any positive cases that occur,” Stewart said.
“Our purpose has been and will continue to be to provide a high-quality education to our youth in this pandemic with the first fitness imperative that in-person learning can only take place if and when each and every precaution for students, families, and school communities. they’re in position. “
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Greg Maxie, Carlsbad’s representative for the National Education Association of New Mexico and a member of the Lovington School Board, said the procedure of adapting public education to the pandemic is complicated for teachers and principals because state regulations were constantly changing.
He said districts across the state were suffering to temporarily replace their plans for the 2020 school year to keep up with the state’s ongoing mandates.
“Developing plans for reopening, programs and developing additional plans has been a big challenge for teachers and administrators,” Maxie said. “And we perceive parents’ considerations as schools expand a plan for their children’s education.
“I know districts have a lot of emotional power to make plans and it is still evolving. It is frustrating. “
Read a letter to Carlsbad Municipal Schools:
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus. com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.